Free Sanitary Products to Reach Public Facilities Nationwide, Soldiers to Get Group Accident Insurance

Free menstrual products will be available at major public facilities across South Korea under the government’s proposed 2027 budget.

The service, currently being piloted in 12 local governments with a 3.2 billion won budget, will expand nationwide next year. The government plans to allocate 22.8 billion won to place products in facilities such as community centers, libraries and youth centers across all 229 regions.

The budget also introduces group accident insurance for active-duty and full-time reserve soldiers. The 6.9 billion won program will pay diagnostic benefits for injuries such as fractures, depending on their type and severity. After completing mandatory service, discharged soldiers will receive full support for postal health insurance premiums for 18 months, funded with 7.5 billion won.

Support for 160,000 pregnant women buying eco-friendly agricultural products will double from 240,000 won over six months to 480,000 won over 12 months. The related budget will increase from 15.8 billion won to 31.4 billion won.

Other measures include 5,000-won monthly coupons for consumers paying with local currency or Onnuri gift certificates on participating delivery apps. Electric vehicle subsidies will rise to 2.1 trillion won, allowing support for 430,000 vehicles while keeping the passenger-car subsidy at 3 million won. Funding for the public transport refund program known as the Everyone’s Card will increase to 431.4 billion won, including a new category for teenagers aged 13 to 18.

The government will also increase support for the student “1,000-won breakfast” program, raising its subsidy per meal from 2,000 won to 3,000 won. Meal capacity will increase to 5.7 million servings. A further 11 billion won will support concert infrastructure at four regional World Cup stadiums, while 26.1 billion won will fund shade structures at outdoor tennis, futsal, basketball and jokgu facilities.